Doctor: It is this blood that's the baby's circulation that has the potential for saving lives through stem cell transplantation.

Narrator: Cord blood has the potential to save lives because it's a rich source of special cells called stem cells. These cells have the ability to develop into other types of cells in the body. This means they can be used to treat various diseases by repairing tissues, organs, and blood vessels.

When your baby is born, you'll need to decide what to do with the cord blood.

Doctor: As a parent, you have three choices. The first is you dispose of the umbilical cord and placenta as medical waste.

The second option is to decide that you want to privately bank so that that blood is kept for you and your family for later use.

And the third is to donate to a public blood bank, where you are actually giving that blood to this bank and have no more say in what happens to it in the future.

Narrator: Here's how cord blood collection works.

It's painless and safe for you and your baby, and it doesn't interfere with your partner's choice to cut the cord.

Once your baby is delivered vaginally or by c-section and the cord is clamped in two places and cut, your doctor will extract about 3 to 5 ounces of blood from the cord.

Doctor: The baby and the short part of the umbilical cord go off to the mom or the isolette. And the rest of the cord that's still attached to the placenta is washed off and then a needle is put into the vessel of the cord.

Narrator: Cord blood is extracted using a syringe or using a needle attached to a collection bag with sterile tubing. Cord blood can also be collected directly from the placenta.

Once the cord blood is collected, it's boxed and sent to the collection bank, where it's tested, processed, and frozen for long-term storage.

Deciding whether or not to bank your baby's cord blood – and whether to do it privately or publicly – is a personal choice. There's no right or wrong way to go.

There is some time pressure involved – you may need to make arrangements six or more weeks before your due date.

BabyCenter spoke with three families, each of whom made a different choice:

Martha and Mike, who donated to a public bank;

Lili, who went with a private bank;

and Ashley and Chris, who decided not to bank their baby's cord blood.

Ashley: In a lot of the information that we read, there was a lot of possibilities.

Chris: Cord blood can save lives and you should sign up for this.Just because it worked for that family does not necessarily mean it's going to work for you.

For the investment that you're putting into it, I wanted to be absolutely sure.

Narrator: Ashley and Chris decided they didn't want to pay for private banking, and their hospital wasn't set up to accept donations to a public bank, so they decided not to bank their baby's cord blood.

Typically in private cord blood banking, you pay a fee for the initial collection and an annual fee to store the blood.

For Lili, the cost was worth it.

Lili: I want to have the advantage of accessing cord blood if my son needs it for medical reasons. Because all the research and all the medical advances, I want to take advantage of it. People get cancer, people get sick, you never know what's going to happen.

Narrator: Privately banked cord blood might help your child in the future, but it's more likely to be useful for a sibling or family member.

There are about 200 hospitals in the United States that are set up to accept donations.

When you donate your baby's cord blood to a public bank, it's available to people in the community who may need it. Donated cord blood may also be used for medical research.

Mike: There was an organization in our local area that would allow us to donate for free. That was pretty important for us.

Narrator: Martha and Mike decided to donate cord blood from the birth of their last three children.

Martha: We just decided that, you know what, it's just about helping other children. And to give that gift of life to another mother was really the deciding factor. Once we wrapped our brain around that, it was a no brainer decision.

Narrator: Talk to your doctor about your options for cord blood banking in your area because if you decide to donate or bank privately, you may need to make arrangements ahead of time.

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